10 Great Photos Shot With A Canon T3i / 600D (And How They Were Taken)

The Canon Rebel T3i (also knows as the 600D in Europe) has been out for a fair few months now, and has garnered fantastic reviews around the web. It’s a great DSLR, and one that I would thoroughly recommend for both the enthusiast and beginner photographer.

Below you’ll find 10 great examples of just what this camera can achieve, as well as how the pictures were taken.

Our first example actually comes from Canon themselves, and it’s a great action shot. When wanting to freeze action such as this, a lot of photographers would shoot in Shutter-priority, but, in this case, the T3i / 600D was in Aperture-priority, as the photographer would have known that a lot of light and a large aperture (in this case f/4.5) would result in a fast shutter speed anyway (1/4000 sec). This is the kind of knowledge that comes from experience, so it’s well worth spending as much time with your camera as possible – taking photos is definitely the best way to learn.

I love the dramatic composition, including a bit of foreground interest in the photo as well as the birds in the distance. The photographer used the T3i’s ‘Action’ setting when taking this photo, which means the camera used a fast shutter speed of 1/1250 sec to capture the birds in flight. Using automatic exposure modes like ‘Action’ can be a good way to start to learn more about photography, and the T3i offers a few different automatic modes for various situations. Of course, as you increase in confidence, it’s great to be able to switch to a semi-automatic shooting mode (such as Aperture Priority) so you get more control, but shooting in Auto modes can be a good way to start – and you can capture fantastic images like this!

Another Canon sample, this shows that the T3i can take lovely portraits. This was shot in Aperture-Priority mode, with a wide aperture of f/1.8 – this meant that a very shallow depth of field was created, perfect for blurring the background of the photo, and making the subject’s eyes really stand out. Using a wide aperture and focusing on the eyes is a very common – and effective – technique for taking portraits.

A great sense of drama is created in this photo, the wide angle (23 mm) resulting in both the attacker and the victim getting in the frame. A wide aperture of f/3.5 was used so that are eyes are first drawn to the sharp, in-focus attacker, and we then scan across to the blurred victim. When you create a photo that causes your viewers’ eyes to move around a lot, then you know you’re on to a winner!

The tones and texture in this shot are fantastic, really suiting to the black and white treatment. The converging lines in the image draw the viewer’s eye down, through the shot – bringing our attention from the edges, right down to the figures at the end of the tunnel. To get such detail in both the light and dark areas of the photo, the photographer used the HDR technique of merging different exposures of the same scene. By the way, if you’re interested in HDR, Stuckincustoms is a great website to learn from.

I love the atmosphere created in this concert photo; the backlight, and great rim lighting effect really make the shot stand out. Great composition, too, as the singer is not bang in the middle of the frame; instead he is just off to the side, which leads to a much more interesting shot. Gig photography is a tough thing, as you’re dealing with moving performers in really lowlight conditions, and – most of the time – you’re not allowed to use flash. This photographer used a high ISO of 1600 so the Canon T3i / 600D was more sensitive to light, and thus could achieve a quick-enough shutter speed of 1/250 sec to get this sharp shot. A long focal length of 163 mm was used to get close to the action, and fill the frame with the performer. If you’re interested in gig photography, I did a tutorial over here.

This is a really great example of the background blur that can be created by using a long focal length (in this case, 100 mm) and a wide aperture (f/3.5). See how sharp the figures are, but how well the background is an out-of-focus mush? And that’s ‘mush’ in a good sense, for sure! I did a guide on how to get blurred backgrounds in your photos which you may be interested in, too.

A great example of where a photographer’s creativity can make a normal situation – in this case a gig photograph – turn into ‘something different’. By purposely under-exposing the couple, and thus creating a lovely silhoutte, the photographer has added intrigue, drama and possibly even a hint of romance! Taking ‘different’ shots like this, and making your own vision of a scene, is one of the most exciting things about photography in my opinion.

Regular readers of LearningTheLight.com may know that I have a bit of a soft spot for dogs, so I just had to include at least one canine photo in this post! I really like composition of this shot; the way the dog’s eyes are positioned towards the right of the frame, giving room in the frame for us to follow his gaze to the left. The photographer got down low, too, to get a nice almost-eye-level shot – which can be a lot more interesting than the normal ‘top-down’ viewpoint we see of dogs in everyday life.

I’m going to finish this T3i gallery with a brilliant photo of a Llama, especially for all you Lllama-lovers out there! OK, perhaps Llamas don’t have as many fans as dogs or cats, but, as the shot above demonstrates, they can be lovely-looking creatures. By taking this photo with the sun behind the Llama, the photographer has managed to capture a great ‘rim’ light, so the subject almost seems to be glowing. I love it!

I’m extremely novice and due to scheduling, probably won’t be able to take a needed photography class in the near future. I found this by googling what camera to buy to achieve the blurry back ground effect. Can I achieve this as a novice on an automatic setting?

Hi Tiffany. You can use a creative automatic setting, and it’ll show you what to do if you want a blurrier background, yes – but shooting in Aperture Priority mode and using a low f-number is your best bet – it’ll mean you’ll start to learn more about your camera and photography too. All the best with it!

I just bought the CANON Rebel 3Ti and I bought 2 lenses with it. I am pretty confident in shooting but I am trying to learn this camera in and out. Any tips for shooting indoor shots what kind of lens etc.. for the ceremony I want something quicka and steady? Thank you.

hi
I have this camera since Sunday and I am very happy with the results of the photos.
I need a hint what to use (settings) cause next Saturday I have a baptism party indoor and I want to take some nice photos.

For indoor shots, use a lens with a wide aperture of at least f/2.8 if you can – if you’ve got the kit lens, then use the lowest f-number you can. You’ll also need to raise your ISO to something like 1600 or 3200.

Hi Gus. It really depends on what kind of things you’ll be shooting; whetehr you’re looking for a telephoto lens, a shorter zoom, a prime etc… if looking for a noticeable increase in quality as the kit lens, with a very similair zoom focal length, then the Canon EF-S 17 – 55 f/2.8 is fantastic – it also has a constant aperture throughout the different focal lengths (unlike the kit lens, which has a different maximum aperture depending on what focal length you’re using).